Day 15: Some Thoughts and Ideas

I am always on the lookout for good ideas and ways to communicate with parents. Today I found one that I think I like a lot. 

Each student has a folder that looks like this:

Inside of that folder they have an 11x7 book filled with blank pages. Each week on Friday their homework for the next week is glued onto the left side of a new page of their booklet. The teacher sends these home everyday so the students know what it is they have for homework. On the right hand side of the page she leaves it blank. This is the space for parents to write any notes they might have for her. She can also slide papers into the folder on the current page. 

Using these folders for this is brilliant because the unused pages can go under the folds. I thought this was a very good idea to communicate with parents at home. 

I observed a lesson on a and an today. I get to teach more about that on Friday. Before I went to the lesson I looked up some information about them, just to refresh my memory about when to use which one. I sat in a desk and watched the lesson as if I were a student. I found that I understood what the teacher was trying to tell the students, even if I still had no idea what he was saying. I could see which students understood the concepts as well as which students needed a little bit of extra help. Hopefully I can give them the extra help on Friday when I teach my lesson.

The Book Bus came today. Even though the school does not have a well stocked library, they have the Book Bus that comes every other Tuesday. Though the students don't have a large variety books to choose from, they do still have the opportunity to get books. According to the Utah Core the students should be able to read for intellectual, personal and emotional growth. I don't know that any of the students are getting the intellectual growth they need from their reading, but they are getting personal growth. They are finding things that they enjoy reading. I think that there are many teachers who are very good at helping their students find books that are interesting for them to read. There are many teachers who are not good at that as well. I would like to be one of those who is very good at it. I want to have read most of the books that my students are reading. If I get to be in 5th grade, I think that will be very easy.